Leather working machine



'May 31, 1932.

G. A. SCHETTLER 1,860,625

LEATHER WORKING MACHINE V Filed Feb. 1, 1930 Patented May 31, 1932 PATENT orric GUSTAVADGLF SCHETTLER, 0F LEEDS, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TOTHE TURNER TANNING MIAGHINERY' COMPANY, OF PORTLAND, MAINE, A CORPORATION OF MAINE LEATHER WORKING- IMACHINE Application filed February 1, 1930,Seria11 To. 425,242, and in Great Britain February-28, 1929.

;, oscillatory tool such as that employed in vaknown in the industry.

rious classes of leather working machines, and in a guard for an oscillatory tool, it is to be understood that the invention and various features-thereof may have other applications and uses. I

Heretofo're, no guard has ever been provided, so far as I am aware, for leather workiug machines of the type wherein an oscillatory tool'is utilized for operating on work while the latter is shifted by the operator between oscillatory strokes of the tool. Yet such a machine is capable of causing serious injury to a careless or inexperienced operator or to anyone who might inadvertently interpose any part of the body in the path of the tool. Guards for leather presses are well- But in presses the problem is diti'erent,'smce the press operates a cycle at a time and comes to a stop between each cycle, permitting the operator to adjust the work while both upper and lower platens are atrest. In leather working ma chines of the oscillatory tool type, for example, in a glazing machine, the oscillatory tool continues in operation while the operator presents piece after piece of work, each piece being shifted many times between strokes of the constantly oscillating tool before completion of the operation on all parts .3 of a given piece of work. Furthermore, the

path of each succeeding stroke of the tool on the work should overlap the path of each preceding stroke. It'follows that the operators attention is concentrated on the proper 1: manipulation of the work. Hence it is important to provide protection forthe operator and particularly for his hands so that they may notbe inadvertently moved into the path of the tool.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved guide for leather working machines to protect the operator while at the same time permitting, without obstruction, introduction and removal of pieces of work and also proper manipulation of the work with respect to the operating tool of the machine. It is a further object of the invention to provide a guard which willbe simple and inexpensive in construction and, while movablelengthwise of the work supporting.

member, a part of the guardbeing constructed and arrangedto furnish light'adequate for inspe'ction'ot the work and of the moving tool in order to make possible proper manipulation of the work while the guard is in operative position. Conveniently, the guard coinprises a stationary plate and a swingingly mounted plate, the purpose of the latter being to permit unobstructed inspection and manipulation for adjustment or replacement of the tool ordinarily covered by the guard, either or both guard plates having, a window or windows which permit inspectionof the work and of the moving tool while the guard is in place and a support for the stationary guard platebeing arranged to serve as a pivotal mounting tor the swmgmgly mounted guard plate. In a prefered form of the invention,

the swingingly mounted guard plate is supported by a U-shaped member, one limb of which serves as a pintle for a hinge by which the said plate is pivotally mounted, the other limb of the U-shaped member serving as a support for the free end of the swingingly mounted plate. .As illustrated, the said U- shaped member serves also as a support for another guard plate which completes the guard on one side of the machine.

These and other. features of the invention and novel combinations of parts'will now be described in detail and then pointed out more particularly in the appended claims.

In the drawings,

Figure lis a side elevation of the guard tive condition;

detached froma machine when in its opera- Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the guard in its closed or operative position on a machine; and

Fig. 3 is a similar view showing part of a modified guard in its open or inoperative position.

Fig. 1 is drawn to. a larger scale than Figs. 2 or 3.

The illustrated device is designed as a guard for leather glazing machines of the type shown in the drawings wherein an oscillatory tool 1 is arranged to operate upon a piece of Work while the latter is resting upon a narrow leather pad 2 supported by a work support 3. The pad 2 and the work support 3 are relatively lonand narrow, being designed to support tiie piece of work against the thrust of'the relatively short tool 1 which extends crosswise oi the pad At each oscillation, the tool 1 travels along the pad 2- and operates upon a correspondingly narrow strip of the piece of Work. Hence the work must be shifted between each oscillation of the tool until all portions of the workhave been treated by the tool. The guard consists of two spaced guard members 4- and 6 each comprising two substantially oblong metal plates 8 and 10 having each a large Window 12 or 14 closed by a transparent element, in this case, a sheet of celluloid 16. The metal plates 8 and 10 may be in the form of castings or of sheet metal pressings for which I may use aluminum or any other suitable metal. The plates on each side are constructed and arranged to be pivotally connected togather end to end and are furnished with hearings or the like for the reception of supports 17' and 19, whereby the guard plates 8 and 10 are carried vertically and so as to extend longitudinally, i. e. parallel with the path ofmovement of a glazing tool 1, (Fig. 3) on opposite sides of, and in close proximity to, the latter. plate 8 has a bearing 18' an another 20 at opposite ends, while the plate 10; has similar bearings 22' and 24. When the adjacent ends of the plates 8 and 10 are brought together with the opposing bearings 20* and 22co-axial with. each other, they together with one limb 26 of the support 1? constitute a: hinge. The front plate 8 of each guard member 4 or 6 iscarried by the support 17 which in the illustrated construction is a metal bar bent: to form a substantially triangular or U-shaped frame, and the rear plates 10 on opposite sidesof the tool 1 are carried jointly by said triangular supports 17 and by the straight supports 19. Actually one limb 26 of each support 17 is inserted in the aforesaid coaxial bearings 20am} 22 at the opposing ends of the guard; plates 8 and 10 thus. completing the hinge previously alluded; to, and the other limb 28' of the support 17 is inserted in the bearing 18 at the opposite end of the front plate 8. The bearing 24 at the otherend" of More specifically, the

the rear plate 10 receives the lower end of the straight bar support 19. Collars 30 are pinned on the lower ends of the supports 17 and 19 to retain the plates thereon. When applied to the machine the supporting frames 17 are mounted to swing in bearings 32 coaxial with thehingedlyconnected bearings 20, 22, said bearings 32 being attached to a part of machine frame 34 which overhangs the bed of the machine. Each supporting frame 17 is held up by a collar 36 which is pinned thereon and rests on the corresponding frame bearing 32. The other supports 19 are fixed in bosses 38 or the like formed on or attached to the said part of the machine frame 34.

In this way the guard members 4 and 6 are suspended from the upper part of the machine on opposite sides of the operating tool 1, the front sections or guard plates 8 being rotatable outwards laterally relatively to the tool 1 and its holder 41, as indicated in- Fig. 3, so as to expose the latter when desired. The movable guard plates 8 may be retained in operative position by a tie bar 42', or its equivalent, inserted into notches 44 in the front ends of these plates 8 andsecured by wing nuts 46' or equivalent means. If desired thetie bar 42 may be pivotally connected to one section or plate 8 and fit in a notch or gap. in the other, so that when the securing device such as wing nut 46 is slackened, the bar-42 may be swung outwards to release the twoplates 8. while being retained by one of them and thus prevented from becoming mislaid or lost. Alternatively, the guar plates 8' when in operative position may be closed at the front end by a gate hinged to one pliate Sand adapted to be fastened to the other p ate.

In the modification shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, the guard members 4 and 6 are made up of slotted metal plates and G2, the front metal plate 60 -being mounted upon the U-shaped support 17 in a manner similar to plate 8 while the slotted plate 62 is mounted upon the support 19 in a manner similar to the plate 10. In other words, the guard members shown in Fig. 3 differ from those shown in Figs. 1 and Qin substituting, for the transparent celluloid plate of the latter,

slotted metal parts, the slots of the plates being large enough and numerous enough to permit a clear view of the work and of the oscillatory tool 1 protected by the guard. In other respects the guard of Fig. 3 is identical with the guard of- Figs. 1 and 2, being adjustable to permit access, to the tool and its supporting member.

It will, of course,,be understood that when the guard members 4 and 6, of either species of the invention, are in position on the glaz- .i'ng machine, the: distance between the lower edges thereof and a work supporting pad 2" on a work supporting member or table 3,

under Working conditions, is only enough to accommodate the work e. g., a piece of leather,

erator to insert his fingers or hand between the guard members and the leather pad on the table, and into the path of the tool 1.

In operating the machine provided with the guard herein described, it will be observed that pieces of work may be readily introduced over the leather pad 2 on the work support 3 in the space between the pad and the lower edges of the guards l and 6. \Vhile the work may be readily introduced, the depth of the space is such that the fingers cannot be passed beyond the guard. Hence there is no danger of getting the hand into the path of thetool 1. It is to be understood that the operator stands in front'of the machine and looks along the path of the tool and not through the windows inthe guard; The work and the moving tool are made visible by light coming through the windows on either or both sides of the guard. While the guard is in place it does not obstruct the entrance of light because of the provision of the relatively very large transparent celluloid pieces .16. The open windows of the guard shown in Fig. 3 are also effective for the admission of adequate light. Both types of windows admit enough light so that it is possible for the operator to see the tool and the path on the work made during the preceding stroke of the tool and to position the work properly for an overlapping of each preceding path by the path made at each succeeding stroke of the tool 1. The work is'shitted between each backward stroke of the tool until the whole surface has been operated upon. lVhen it is desired to inspect the tool 1 and possibly to adjust it to bring a fresh surface thereof into operative position, the movable guard members 8 (Figs. 1 and 2) or 60 (Fig. 3) may be swung back into the position shown in Fig. 8. If the machine has been stopped with the tool 1 in forward position or substantially so, it is readily accessible for inspection and adjustment or replacement.

Having described theinvention, what is claimed as new and desired to secure by Letters Patent is: a

1. In a guard for a leather working machine having a relatively long and narrow work supporting member and a. tool movable lengthwise of the work supporting member for operating on a piece of work, a guard member arranged to extend along parallel to the sides of the work supporting member and to the path of the tool, said guardmemher having a window of asize to furnish lightadequate for inspection of a piece of work on the work supporting member and of the moving tool.

2. In a guard for a leather Working machine having a relatively long and narrow work supporting member and a tool movable lengthwise of the work supporting member for operating ona piece of work, guard members arranged along each side of the work supporting member in spaced relation to each other and parallel to the path of the tool, one of the guard members having a window of a size to furnish light adequate for inspection of a piece of work on the work supporting member and of the moving tool.

3. In a guard for a leather working machine having a relatively long and narrow work supporting member and a tool movparallel tothe sides of the work supporting member for operating on a piece of work, a guard member arranged to extend along parallel to the sides of the work supporting member and to the path of the tool, said guard member having a celluloid window of a size to furnish light adequate for inspection of a piece of work on the work support and to the moving tool of the machine, a support for the stationary guard member, said support serving also as means for mounting the movable guard member for movement between operative and inoperative positions, and means for supporting the free end of the movable guard member while it is swinging between operative and inoperative positions.

5. In a guard for a leather working machine having a work support and a tool for operating on a piece of work on the support, a pair of guard plates spaced from the work support to permit introduction and manipulation of work on the work support, one

of the guard plates having a window forpassage of light to the work and to thetool for inspection of the latter while the guard plate is in operative position, and means for hingedly mounting the windowed guard plate for movementbetween open and closed positions with respect to the machine tool, said means comprising a member connected to the free end of the windowed guard plate to support the latter while it is being moved between its open and closed positions. I

6. In a guard for a leather working machine having a toolfor operating on a piece of work, a guard plate having a, window through which the piece of work and the tool may be inspected, and a member for pivotalboth while the latter is stationary and while it is being swung to one side. 7

7. In a guard for a leather working machine having a tool for operating on a piece of work, a guard plate rota-table between closed and open positions with respect to the tool, and a member having two limbs, one limb serving as the pintle of a hinge by which the plate may be rotated, and the other limb serving as asupport for the free end of the plate.

8. In a guard for a leather working machine having a tool for operating on a piece of work, a guard plate, a U-shaped supporting member having two limbs, and means for pivotally connecting the plate to one limb of the U-shaped member so that the plate may be swung into and out of operative position with respect to the tool, the other limb of the U-shaped member being connected to the free end of the plate to support the latter.

9. In a guard for a leather working machine having a tool, a pair of guard plates having windows to furnish light for inspection of the tool and of a piece of work in the machine while the guard is in operative position, means for supporting one of the plates stationary with respect to the frame of the machine, a member for hingedly connecting the other plate to the stationary plate for movement between open and closed positions with respect to the tool, said member having a limb for supporting the free end of the movable plate, and means for looking the movable plate in operative position.

10. In a guard for a leather working machine having a movable tool, a pair of guard plates having windows to furnish light for inspection of a piece of work in the machine and of the moving tool while the guard is in operative position, means for supporting one of the plates stationary with respect to the frame of the machine, a member for hingedly connecting the other plate to the stationary plate for movement between open and closed positions with respect to the machine tool, said member having a portion for supporting the free end of the movable plate, and said movable plate having a celluloid plate covering the window and of a transparency to permit passage of light to the machine tool and to the work.

11. In a machine for operating upon hides, skins, leather, and other similar pieces of work, a relatively long and narrow work supporting member, a tool movable lengthwise of the work supporting member for operating on the work, and a guard member arranged to extend along parallel to the sides of the work supporting member and to the path of the tool, and spaced with respect to the work supporting member to admit a piece of work while excluding'the operators fingers, said guard member having a window of a size to furnish light adequate for inspection of 21 piece of work on the work supporting member and of the moving tool.

12. In a glazing machine, a relatively long and narrow work supporting member, an oscillatory glazing tool movable lengthwise of the work supporting member for operating on successively presented portions of a piece of work, the latter being shifted between each oscillation of the tool in such manner that the paths of the tool overlap on the work, and guard members arranged along each side of the work supporting member in spaced relation to each other and to the work supporting member and parallel to the path of the tool, one of the guard members having a window of a size to furnish light adequate for inspection of a piece of work on the work supporting member and of the moving tool so that the paths of the tool. may be properly overlapped on the work.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

GUSTAV ADOLF SCHETTLER.

CERTIFICATE or CORRECTION.

Patent No. 1,860,625. May 31, 1932.

GUSTAV ADOLF SGHETTLER.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows: Page 3, line 78, claim 3, strike out the words "parallel to the sides" and insert the syllable and word "able lengthwise"; and that the said Letters Patent should be read With this correction therein that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 23rd day of May, A. D. 1933.

M. J. Moor (Seal) Acting Commissioner 0% Patents. 

